Building Your Own Video Conferencing with Jitsi

Jitsi Meet is an open-source platform for hosting video conferences that is both free and safe, due to HTTPS encryption. The Jitsi Meet client can be installed on any device and operating system to enable video conferencing and remote collaboration with an unlimited number of people.

Without using third-party services like Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, or Zoom, you can construct your own video conference server using Jitsi Meet and provide a video conferencing solution to those who perform smart working or video chats.

It consists of the following core modules (some of which are optional):

Jitsi Meet — The frontend WebRTC compatible React app that is at the heart of the user experience, allowing for both calls and basic configuration.

Jitsi Video bridge — This is where the platform’s video streams are managed. You have to admire the development effort that went into this.

You’ll want to expand the Video bridge, though you may not need to because a single bridge should be able to handle hundreds of simultaneous streams on a typical 2020-2021 server.

Jitsi Conference Focus — Adds session management and basic meeting scheduling as an optional module. It lacks a good API for managing meeting reservations.

Jitsi Gateway to SIP — Adds support for VoiceIP software and devices as an optional module. Consider dialing into an online meeting from a VoiceIP phone or another device.

Jibri — Adds conference recording as an optional module. The React app record button will become active once it has been configured.

Prosody — This module is responsible for all low-level messaging in the XMPP protocol, which is an industry-standard. It enables optimal compatibility with XMPP-enabled communication devices.

Jigasi- It is a SIP telephony gateway service that connects to a Jitsi Video bridge meeting.

Jibri – This is a broadcaster and recorder that can record video calls and upload them to YouTube Live.

Jidesha – It’s a screen-sharing extension for Chrome and Firefox.

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What is the significance of Jitsi?

The following are the main benefits of utilizing Jitsi video conferencing:

• Free open-source solution with a large network of supporters
• Setup is simple and requires only one click.
• Setting up video and audio calls, as well as multi-meeting rooms, is a simple process.
• Due to the deployment inside separated containers with encrypted traffic, there is a high level of privacy and security.
• A large number of service providers from various countries are available to host the application locally.
• All accessible clients are supported (Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS, Android)

Installation of Jitsi 

1. Start the installation by importing the necessary manifest file from GitHub into the Jelastic dashboard.

When the installation is complete, a window with the video conferencing host’s credentials displays (administrator).

2. To enter the video conferencing admin page, click on the Jitsi Server URL or the Open in Browser option.

3. To eliminate possible coincidences, use a meeting name generator or make your own, such as MyPrivateMeeting, and then click GO. Then, to become the video conferencing service administrator, press the I am the host button and enter the credentials you received during the Jitsi installation.

The meeting appears when the first member uses the URL to join it, and it is dissolved when the last participant leaves it. So, if it’s required to have a room with a specific meeting open all the time, at least one person should be present. If someone joins the same meeting room again, a new meeting with the same name is started, and there is no link to the previous meeting.

Jitsi allows you to host numerous meetings at once, with a maximum of 75 clients per conference. The Jitsi server in Jelastic comes with enough resource capacity to manage a strong load by default, but you can grow it vertically on the fly if necessary.

4. The final step is to encrypt your meeting with a password to ensure that no one uninvited can attend, even if the names are similar.

Now that your meeting is ready to receive connections from the users you invited, don’t forget to send them invitations with the meeting’s link and password.

Remember that the password is reset once all attendees have left the meeting. So, if you’re joining a new meeting in the same room, keep in mind that the password will need to be reset.

Additional Functionality

Jitsi additionally appeals to users by combining several distinct features into a single application:

Sart live stream – permits audio and video to be streamed via Youtube.

Start recording – allows you to record meetings as mp4 video files that are automatically saved to the Jitsi container’s /root/.jitsi-meet-cfg/jibri/recordings folder.

Share a YouTube video – permits all meeting attendees to see a YouTube video.

Blur my background – identifies the speaker’s body and shows it without distortion while blurring the surrounding background.

You may also share your screen by using the Share button in the program panel’s left bottom corner. It enables you to share your screen with all participants:

• The entire computer screen
• A unique application’s window
• Tab for a specific web browser